Sari P. Setiogi The Jakarta Post Jakarta
The government unveiled on Friday its new strategy to boost Internet use in the country, but admitted that it would be impossible for Indonesia to meet the targets set at the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
The WSIS, the first global conference on the Internet, which was held in Geneva in December, set targets that include ensuring that over 50 percent of the citizens in each country should have access to the Internet by 2015.
"At the moment, only about 1 percent of Indonesia's population has access to the Internet. It will be impossible to increase this figure by fifty-fold in a little over 10 years," State Minister for Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif told reporters on Friday.
Internet kiosks could play a pivotal role in promoting the use of the Internet among Indonesians, many of whom are still struggling to supply their basic needs, such as food and housing.
But, Syamsul said he did not have any great expectations that Internet cafes would appear all over the country as "as it is not yet a profitable business."
One of the government's strategies is to introduce information technology at the early stages of education through the "One school, one computer laboratory (OSOL)" program, which is currently in gestation.
"We are now approaching the private sector to provide cheap computers for between Rp 1.5 million (about US$180) and Rp 2 million per unit for schools across the country," said Syamsul.
"Microsoft has agreed to provide software at $2.5 per unit, as against the normal price of about US$200," said the minister.
He also hoped that cheap software could be provided to Internet kiosks so as to promote Internet use.
Other targets set during the Geneva summit were that all citizens should have access to television and radio, and all governments have an online system of administration (e- government) by 2015.
"Without a good strategy, it will be difficult for us to reach the targets. For that, the government, together with the private sector and civil society, should formulate an e-strategy at the national level," said Syamsul.
He also said that Indonesia needed to have a law on the statute books governing all aspects related to information technology, including cybercrime, as part of the effort to promote the wider use of the Internet among the public.
The WSIS is a world forum organized by the United Nations together with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The forum is committed to narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries, and between rich countries and poor countries in the use of Internet.
The next Internet summit will be held in Tunis next year.